All My Clothes Smell Like You
by marymin
Summary: 30 day otp challenge for setomary. A drabble a day.
1. A Fairytale, to begin with

Day 1 - Holding Hands

There were still things Mary didn't understand. When she'd examined his ipod, starry-eyed and fascinated, Seto had thought at first that she was just excitable. But as he explained the zipper on the front of the white jacket, as he drew cars and stoplights and televisions for her and she drank his words up as eagerly as though it were a bedtime story, he realized. She was like him, alone and cut off for so long that everything was a miracle to her.

He resolved to show her everything of the world he could.

Every day he would bring her books, bring her pictures of his siblings and explain why he loved them. He brought his school assignments, he brought her packaged snacks she'd never tried before. He brought her flowers, even though he knew that living here in a garden, surely she'd seen them all.

And once he was older but she was the same, once he'd run out of things to bring her, he asked if he could bring her to the world. He promised to keep her safe and hold her hand if she ever got scared.

There was still so much to see.


	2. It's Fine, to continue

Day 2 - Cuddling Somewhere

"This is fine, isn't it?" Mary asked suddenly from Seto's lap. She was playing Animal Crossing, and the cord of the controller didn't quite reach the couch so they were on the floor, using it like a backrest instead. His chin was resting on the top of her head, and he wasn't paying much attention, so at first when she asked he thought she was talking about the game. He focused on the screen, but didn't see anything amiss.

"What's that?" he asked. She wriggled in his lap, like she was debating telling him to forget that she'd said anything. He waited patiently.

"To sit like this, I mean," she said finally.

He considered it. "I'm not uncomfortable. Are you?"

She shook her head, and on the screen her little pink haired character did something with a shovel. "Only, it's just that if this were Kido and Kano, she would hit him."

Was that it? He laughed, and her hands went slow on the controller like she was distracted for a moment. "Are you gonna hit me?"

She stopped and twisted in his lap to face him, her cheeks puffed up in frustration. "Don't be silly!" she exclaimed, and he chuckled and poked her cheeks so that her breath wooshed out quickly. She pouted and turned around to face the screen again. "Thinking I'd _hit _you," she grumbled, and he could see the tips of her ears burning pink, and he thought maybe that wasn't what she had meant to ask at all.


	3. moving on, It's Okay To Be Sad

Day 3 - watching a movie

Mary knew now why he'd been so reluctant to watch the movie. Seto stared at the screen, large wet tears rolling down his cheeks. She'd thought it was just a cute animal movie! How was she supposed to know the dog died at the end?

"H-hey, are you okay?" she asked, reaching over and tugging on his sleeve. He hiccuped a sob, not looking away from the last few minutes of the movie. Mary bit her lip. This was all her fault.

She took a deep breath and then hopped off the couch, padding over to the tv and turning it off. Then she turned around, leaning against the screen as she figured out what to do next. She'd never seen Seto so upset.

He caught her watching him and struggled to smile, but as she watched a tear dripped off his chin and onto his shirt. She had to do something.

Mary marched over to the couch and shouldered his arms aside, clambering onto his lap with determination.

"M-mary?" he blinked, taken by surprise, but didn't try to push her away as she perched on his knees and reached up to wipe a tear off his cheek.

"You can't be sad," she instructed, and he tried to banish the tears immediately, his lower lip pushing up and his eyes crinkling at the corners. She had to admit it was a good try.

"We'll watch something happy now, okay?" she added, holding his face between her hands until he made eye contact with her, and this time he did smile, leaning his cheek into one of her hands.

"Okay," he answered, and she beamed back at him, relieved it had worked.


	4. I Want To Be With You, she added then

Day 4 - on a date

It was a bit silly to 'pick someone up' for a date when you lived together, but something had come up at work and Seto was running late. He'd invited Mary out to eat, and had definitely intended it as a date, but he wasn't sure she'd picked up any of the hints he'd been dropping lately. Still, either way spending time with her was always the best part of his day.

He shouldered open the door to the base, calling out cheerfully, "I'm home!"

There was a scramble of motion, and before he was all the way inside the door a tiny figure collided him, wrapping warm arms around his chest. He looked down at a familiar tangle of white hair.

"I thought you weren't _coming,_" a tiny voice complained into his shirt.

He laughed and ruffled her hair. "What, and miss out on our date?" Oops, the cat was out of the bag now.

Mary went still for a moment, then tilted her head up to stare at him, her eyes wide. In the room behind her, a voice drifted out.

"Told yoooou," Kano drawled, his amusement recognizable even though Seto couldn't see him.

"Shut _up,_" Mary squeaked in embarrassment, her cheeks burning red, and she pushed Seto back out the door the way he came in.

"H-hey, I was gonna change," he protested, laughing, but he let her propel him.

"Nuh-uh, we're going now," she replied, impatient, and in the end he gave up and let her drag him down the street.


	5. I Always Miss You, eventually

day 5 - kissing

"Are you gonna be late again?" Mary watched him get ready from the breakfast table, chin in her hands. Kido occupied the corner as she waited for whatever old takeout she was heating in the microwave to be done.

Seto paused as he picked up his boxed lunch. "I'm not sure. I never _plan_ to be."

That wasn't enough for Mary, and she pouted and puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "They're mean, for keeping you so long."

He laughed, making his way over to the table and patting her head. "If I'm gone longer it's more money for the group, right? Maybe we can go somewhere fun this weekend."

She made a noise like 'harumph', but he ignored it, and waved at Kido, who nodded back.

"Be safe," she instructed, and he grinned.

"Yes ma'am!" Then he bent down to kiss Mary on the forehead before he left. Defiant and grumpy, Mary looked up to catch it, and the kiss landed awkwardly close to her mouth, just next to her nose. He froze, and stared down at her.

"You missed," she grumbled sullenly, hunching her shoulders.

"Guess so," he replied, grinning, and put his thumb on her chin so he wouldn't make the same mistake again. Then he leaned down to kiss her properly, and in the corner Kido sighed.

"God, you two are embarrassing."


	6. It's Like You're Always With Me

day 6 - wearing the other's clothes

"Mary?" Kido called, looking around the base for the smaller girl. She heard her answer from the other room and followed her voice to find her, curled in an armchair with a book. She looked up as Kido walked into the room. "Mary, I need you to go get these groceries for me," she said, handing her a short list.

Mary took the sheet of paper reluctantly, shrinking back against the cushions. "Me? Can't someone else do it?"

Kido knew it wasn't laziness that prompted her to ask, but shyness. Growing up away from the world for so long, crowded places like grocery stores were difficult for her. But there was no other choice.

"Sorry, Seto's at work, and who knows where Kano is. I have to watch the pot so it doesn't boil over, so that leaves you."

"I can watch the pot," Mary volunteered hastily, trying to hand the list back, but Kido was already shaking her head.

"Fresh air is good for you. You can't stay cooped up in here forever." Kido left the room, adding, "It's surprisingly cold, so you should take a jacket."

Mary brightened considerably at the suggestion. She dog-eared her book and hopped to her feet, heading to her room to get the white hoodie hanging on the back of the door. This was the one good thing about cold weather, she thought to herself, that she got to wear such a comforting article of clothing. She took it off the hook and shook it out, examining it. It was threadbare, and the shoulder seams were wearing through again; she was going to have to mend them soon. She was still proud of the roses along the hem, embroidery that had taken her months to complete.

Other than the embroidery, there was nothing inherently special about the hoodie itself, of course. It wasn't like it was magic. It was really only important because Seto had given it to her, and, she learned later, because someone important had given it to him.

She shrugged it on, the child sizing still fitting her slim shoulders somehow. The faded fabric was soft with age, and wearing it was like having her friend's arm around her. It was gonna be okay.

Tucking the grocery list into her pocket, she trotted down the stairs and paused at the door, taking a deep breath to steel herself. "Be back soon," she called, and let herself out. Facing the world was still scary of course, but it was much less frightening when she was reminded that she wasn't alone after all.


	7. What You Dream About, tomorrow

day 7 - cosplaying

"Can you see my hair in the back?" Mary asked anxiously, turning around so Seto could see the back of her neck. She wore a short dark wig, and he squinted to see if he could spot any white hairs escaping.

"Ahh, hang on," he replied, digging in the bag she'd asked him to hold for the bobby pins he knew she'd put in there. A second later, and he was carefully pinning the white lock of hair away and out of sight. "Got it," he told her.

She smiled, turning back around. "Then I'm ready to go!"

Seto had no idea what she was dressed up as. Oh, she'd told him, and he'd tried to listen as helpfully as possible, but the fact remained that he could never keep up with whatever manga she was into at any given time. Still, he'd agreed to come to this event with her, mostly since she'd seemed scared to attend it herself. But what could go wrong, right?

Not two steps into the center where the event was held, however, and they were stopped by a pair of girls who squealed and grabbed Mary's hands. He saw Mary flinch away, unused to the familiar contact from strangers, but before he could swoop in to rescue her one of the girls was speaking.

"You are my _favorite _character," she all but shrieked, "you look so adorable!" A tiny smile grew on Mary's face, and Seto resolved to leave well enough alone.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind. Mary wanted to get some of her books signed, so they stood in line for a few hours, but people kept pulling Mary out of line to take pictures of her. She seemed proud of her costume and the attention it was getting, so Seto was enjoying himself, even if he had no idea what was going on.

As they left that evening, tired and happy, Mary cheerfully said, "Next year you should dress up too!"

Seto laughed. "Why? I'm not really into any of your—"

Mary cut him off, something that happened rarely, but she was just so excited. "I've got so many ideas! We'll match, and we can take couple pictures." She paused, adding shyly, "you don't _have _to. I asked Momo, but she said her popularity might cause a problem at an event like this…."

"No no," he replied hastily, though he had a sinking feeling that he was getting in over his head, "I can do do it!" Any common sense he had about the idea was washed away by the worry of she and Momo taking 'pairing pictures', whatever that was. Momo's popularity might be a problem _indeed._


	8. To Make You Smile, and let it linger

day 8 - shopping

"Ahh, look how cute this is!" Mary squeaked, holding up a plush toy shaped like a baby seal. She spun around in the aisle of the store, reveling in the adorable toy.

"It is, but we hafta concentrate on getting the things Kido said—" Seto cautioned, and Mary's face fell. She turned the stuffed animal over in her hands, looking into its sewn-on beaded eyes.

"I guess…" she replied, giving it a sad squeeze as she prepared to put it back.

Seto's heart ached at the sight, and he sighed. "…Okay, okay, we'll get the seal," he gave in, motioning for her to put it in the cart. Mary immediately brightened and set the toy down in the mostly-empty basket.

"What's next?" she asked, ducking under his arm to stand on the bar between the back wheels, clutching the handle. It made it a little heavier and harder to push, but he'd rather have her here than off who knows where in the store.

"Uhhh, I think we're out of salt," he replied, fumbling in his pocket for the list. He didn't find it, and let go of the cart to check his other pockets. "Oops, I think we might have left the list at home," he said sheepishly. "We can remember it though, I think. Right, salt!" He pushed the cart a little further down the aisle.

They didn't get far, however, before Mary hopped off the cart again, skittering across the aisle, and he stopped again. "Seto, look!" This time she was showing him a box of pastries, with little icing swirls on top. "Can we get them? I'll share them with you!"

That was pretty generous of her, considering it was his paycheck they were going shopping with. But her eyes were shining with excitement, and he chuckled. "Sure," he replied. She deserved a reward for being brave enough to come out in public like this, right?

Ten minutes later, and the cart was filled with sweets, and lacked almost anything that they actually needed. But adding it up in his head as best as he was able, Seto figured they were nearing their budget.

"I think we're done," he said finally, as Mary put a box of meringues in the cart. She pouted.

"Already? Shopping with you is wayyy more fun than it is by myself…" She sounded genuinely put out, but Seto knew better than to fall for that.

"I'm glad you're having fun," he said cheerfully as he steered them over to the check out counters, "but remember that we gotta haul all this stuff back to the base too." Her face immediately fell, and he wished he could just give in to fix that as well— summon a car or a magic carpet or a horse-drawn carriage to make her smile. But that wasn't as simple a task.

At the check out counter, he found out he'd been right— they only just had enough money for their groceries. They paid, and when it came time to carry the bags home, Mary took a bag in either hand and Seto picked up the remaining four, worrying as he watched her struggle with her load.

They left the store and headed towards home. It wasn't long before Mary lagged behind, and Seto stopped, shifting the bags to one hand. "Lemme carry them," he offered, reaching for the bags.

"I'm fine," she protested, her face red from effort. He took her bags anyway.

"I can carry you too," he offered, seeing how exhausted she was, and she shifted from foot to foot, obviously reluctant to burden him further. "Here's a deal," he added, "you carry your seal and I'll carry you."

Mary brightened up and rummaged in the bags until she found the fluffy white toy, and then he crouched so she could climb onto his back. She clutched the seal in one hand and locked both arms around his neck, and he lifted her easily.

They headed home like that, and Mary fell asleep quickly, exhausted from their trip outdoors. She didn't even wake up when they got back to the base and Kido scolded them for not getting any of the things they needed.

Seto waited until Kido stopped shouting and then went to go tuck Mary in, impressed by the fact that she managed to hold onto the seal the entire time.


	9. It's A Puzzle, in the end she solves it

9 - hanging out with friends

In the beginning, Mary had wondered if she really belonged with them. Of course she knew Seto wanted her to live there— he'd hiked through the woods to visit her almost every single day for years. It was obvious he wanted her company.

But she'd been leery of Kido's cold stares and Kano's mischievous grins, unsure how to parse such a stark difference. She stammered her way around them, avoided their eyes, hid in her room.

It was strange to think of how she'd been compared to how she was now.

"Mary, you left your rainjacket in the hall again," Kido scolded, hanging the garment on the couch. Mary looked up from where she was lying on her stomach reading.

"I'm busy," she replied, a bit peeved at being interrupted.

Kido stared down at her, obviously wondering whether to say more, but she left the room. Mary returned to reading her book, pausing to adjust her position so that she was more comfortable.

A few minutes later, Seto poked his head in and opened his mouth to ask her a question, but just stared at her in confusion.

"…what are you doing?" he asked finally, coming into the room.

Mary looked up again, and huffed in frustration. "I'm _reading_." she replied.

"No, I mean, what are you doing to Kano?"

He peered at the strange sight before him; Mary, sprawled on the ground, using Kano like a pillow. Kano was unresponsive, so he figured Mary had frozen him.

She at least had the decency to look ashamed. "The pillows were far away, and my back was hurting…" she said, knowing her excuses wouldn't cut it.

With her having lost track of time, there was no telling how long Kano had been stuck like that.


	10. as time goes on, It Grows Simpler

day 10 - taking a nap

Mary couldn't be sure exactly when Seto had fallen asleep. She was curled on the couch in the crook of his arm, her head resting back against his shoulder as she flipped through her newest book. She reached a page that made her blush, and she pressed the volume to her chest, suddenly worried. He hadn't seen what was on it, had he? Trying to be subtle, she rolled her head back against his chest, trying to get a look at his facial expression out of the corner of her eye.

It's not like he had no idea what she was reading— he'd bought her most of her BL collection, after all. But she didn't think he quite knew how bold the content could get. She hoped not, at least.

His eyes seemed to be closed, and now that she thought about it, his breathing felt slow and deeper than usual. There was no doubt about it. Seto had fallen asleep while she was reading.

Relief coursed through her at the realization that her taste in literature was safe for the day, and she picked the book up to find out what happened next. But now that she knew he was sleeping, she couldn't stop noticing the slow rise and fall of his chest against her back. She found her own breathing matching his, somehow, and her eyes kept trying to flutter close against her will.

She huffed in irritation, but found her bookmark and slipped it between the pages. Then she craned her neck again to kiss his cheek, smiling at the peaceful look on his face. He had been exhausted when he'd come back from work, hadn't he?

She snuggled down against his shoulder and shut her eyes, letting his soft breathing lull her to sleep.


	11. I Will Stay, in the meantime

day 11 - getting a cold

When Mary woke up she could tell something was different. Usually she woke to the noises of Kano and Kido fighting, and Seto trying to mediate as he got ready for work. Today it was surprisingly quiet, and she wondered at first if she'd woken up late. She swung her legs over the side of her bed, yawning and scrubbing the heels of her palms against her eyes.

In the kitchen, she found an even stranger scene. Kido was stirring something on the stove (soup, maybe?) and Kano was nowhere to be seen. Even weirder, from here she could see Seto's shoes by the door, and there was no trace of him having eaten breakfast. Utterly confused, Mary sat down at the table.

The sound of her drawing out the chair alerted Kido to her presence, and the green-haired girl glanced at her over her shoulder. "Good, you're up," she said by way of greeting. Before Mary could ask why that was 'good', Kido continued, "you can take this to him in just a minute." With sure, deft motions, she turned off the stove and ladled a good amount of soup into a bowl, bringing it over to the table.

"Wait a bit though, it's hot." She caught Mary's confused stare, and realized the smaller girl had no idea what was going on. "Seto's home sick today," she told her.

Everything suddenly made sense to Mary; the shoes, the lack of noise, the soup. She wouldn't be surprised to find out Kido had thrown Kano out of the house that morning to give their sick friend some rest. She seized the bowl, remembering to grab a spoon. "I'll take it up to him," she agreed eagerly. Kido nodded in approval.

Careful not to spill, Mary took the stairs slowly, and nudged the door open with her elbow. She could see a lump under the covers, which she took to be her friend, and she padded over to the bed carefully, setting the bowl down on the bedside table.

"Are you up?" she whispered, hovering over the bed. The lump under the covers stirred and turned, and Seto peeped out of the blankets and looked up at her.

He looked terrible. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his skin was pale and looked clammy. "You're gonna get sick," he croaked, his eyebrows drawing together, and Mary giggled at the humor of the situation. Of course he was worried about her, even though he looked like death incarnate right now.

"Brought you soup," she replied, gesturing at the bowl. "Kido's orders."

He opened his mouth to say something, but started coughing instead, curling forward with each cough. Worried, she sat down on the edge of the bed, twisting her hands in her lap and trying to remember what her mother had done when she was sick.

When the coughing subsided, he didn't seem capable of straightening out his hunched posture, and he swallowed hard with his fist pressed against his mouth. After a second, he lowered his hand and looked up, giving her the sweetest smile, although there were lines of pain in between his eyebrows.

She bit the inside of her cheek and reached up, pressing her hand to his forehead. It wouldn't do her any good, of course; she was colder blooded than humans, and he always felt warm to her. But today he was burning, and she almost snatched her hand away. But her fingertips were so much colder than his fever-racked skin that he visibly relaxed at her touch, his eyes falling shut.

"You're gonna get _sick," _He mumbled again in protest, but he leaned into her palm, and she giggled at how at-peace he looked now. She pushed his bangs out of the way, fingers combing through gross sweat-damp hair.

"I probably can't catch the same things you can," she reminded him, though they knew from experience that was mostly untrue. Still, he was done protesting, and let her curl up next to him on the bed. He did wince from headache when she pulled his head down to rest on her shoulder, but he seemed much more comfortable there, leaning against her.

She resolved to make him eat something soon, probably as soon as her body temperature rose from such close proximity and her hands weren't cold enough anymore. But for now she pressed her cool fingers to his temples and listen to his breathing slow.


	12. Here Seemed Safest, until now

day 12 - making out

Seto woke up to the feeling of something touching his nose, then pressing against his cheek. He cracked his eyes open, but it was pitch black, and for a second he couldn't figure out where he was. There was a warm shape in his arms, and as his mind pieced it together, he vaguely remembered Mary crawling into bed with him at some point, complaining about a scary move. She wriggled in his arms, and something brushed his other cheek, and he realized she was kissing his face.

Confused and still half asleep, he tilted his head to kiss her back, sloppy and almost missing in the darkness. She jumped and squeaked in surprise, obviously not aware that he was awake, and he shifted forward onto his elbow, cupping her cheek in his hand and kissing her again. Mary went very still, and then her hands were feeling at his shirt, looking for a handhold. She moved closer, and her cold foot pressed against his shin and it was all he could do not to jump.

His hand had gotten tangled up in her hair somehow, like the strands were alive and winding themselves around his fingers — which wasn't impossible, considering the things he'd seen it do — and he pushed her hair back from her neck, leaning over to press his lips to the soft spot under her ear. She breathed in, a shaky pleased hum, and he laughed under his breath. Her fingers found the nape of his neck, and she tried to nudge him closer.

"You're gonna wake up Kano," he mumbled, and she shook her head, but he paused all the same, craning to look over his shoulder at the still form in the other bed.

She tugged him back to face her again, anxious for him to continue, but he was more awake now, and he tried, without much success, to disentangle his hand from her hair. "Come ooooon," she whined, frustrated, but he wouldn't budge on the subject.

"I have to get up in two hours for work," he reminded her gently, flopping back down against the pillows and rubbing his now-free wrist. "You can't sleep here if you're gonna try to keep me up all night."

She pouted, and he was not without sympathy, so he kissed her one last time, before closing his eyes and trying very hard to go back to sleep. It was a long time before he succeeded.

(there will be no updates this weekend due to a convention. updates will return on monday.)


	13. little by little, We Always Give In

day 13 - eating ice cream

"I want ice cream," Mary complained. "It's hoooooot."

Her complaint was prompted by the ice cream shop they were passing, and Mary stopped to peer into the window. Seto stopped as well, and Kido sighed as she came to a halt to wait for them.

"You can't get ice cream right now," Kido reprimanded, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she waited for them to keep walking. "It's almost evening, and you'll spoil your dinner." Her motherly side always came through when most inconvenient.

Mary pouted, looking from Kido to the window and then back again. It wasn't likely that she was going to be able to convince Kido. She frowned and got ready to walk again, before she had an idea. She seized Seto's sleeve, and looked up at him with the best puppy eyes she could manage. He was going red before she even started speaking.

"Setooooo," she whined, tugging on his sleeve, "it's hot, and Kido won't let me get ice cream."

Seto looked between Kido and Mary helplessly. He had no desire to backtalk to Kido, but Mary looked downright heartbroken, and he sighed. "It's not _that _late, is it?" he asked, not making eye contact with Kido.

She crossed her arms, not budging. "Actually it is. Now are you coming home, or not?"

Defeated, Seto sighed, and tried to continue walking, but Mary was still clinging to his arm, and she dug her heels in. He looked pleadingly at Kido, who raised her eyebrows. He didn't have to use his power to know she was thinking 'this is your problem, not mine' in his direction. He pulled his arm out Mary's grasp and, before she could react and get upset, picked her up easily. She grumbled, but settled down into his arms.

Kido rolled her eyes and started walking again, and Seto followed her without trouble this time. They made much better time, though Mary pouted literally all the way. When they got back to the base, Seto dropped down on the couch, setting her down in his lap. She stuck out her lip at him.

"I wanted ice cream," she grumbled, and he smiled, ruffling her bangs.

"Hang on," he said, pointing his thumb towards the kitchen where Kido was rattling pots and pans. Mary crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, but she waited, and soon Kido walked into the room.

"I'm going out to get some things for dinner. I'll be right back," she announced.

"Got it!" Seto replied cheerfully. He waited until she left the base, then moved Mary to the cushion next to him. "I'll be right back," he promised, and vanished into the kitchen. She kicked her heels and waited, and he was back in a moment, handing her a prepackaged ice cream from the freezer. "Kano hid these pretty well," he said, grinning as her face lit up, "but not well enough, I guess."

"You're the best!" she squeaked, unwrapping it, and he laughed.

"Just don't get it on the couch, or she'll have both our heads."


	14. repeatedly, She Wishes Impossibly

(A warning: with this chapter the story moves to a T rating; not all chapters will need it, but there will probably be at least one more that require it.)

day 14 - genderbent

_"Go back to sleep," Seto laughed under his breath, giving Marius a playful shove. The other boy had woken him up by kissing him in the middle of the night, but Seto knew he'd be tired tomorrow if he didn't rest more tonight._

_Unfortunately it seemed that Marius had other ideas. The white-haired boy rolled over onto him, pouting. "You don't wanna kiss me?" he asked, seeming put out._

_Seto flushed, holding up his hands defensively. "It's not that at all," he whispered, "but do you have any idea how much Kano will tease us if he wakes up?" _

_Marius frowned, then looked over at the other bed. In the darkness, his eyes flared red, glowing like embers. The glow faded, and he glanced back at the dark-haired boy. "We have five minutes," he said with an impish grin. Before Seto could reply, he leaned down and kissed him. _

_At first Seto was reluctant to respond, still wary of Kano's presence in the room, but Marius was eager enough for both of them. He pressed his tongue against the other boy's lips, and Seto's hands wove themselves into his short white curls, ostensibly to pull him away, but somehow just drawing him closer. _

_Marius's loose pajamas were far too hot now, and he envied Seto for going to bed in just a t-shirt and shorts. He pulled back from the kiss to breathe. Below him, Seto was breathing hard, staring up at him, "How long?" he asked, his voice hoarse, then swallowed and clarified, "how long do we have?" _

_Marius smirked and leaned down to nuzzle his face into the crook of the other boy's neck. "Long enough," he whispered as he—_

"Mary!" Mary snapped out of her daydream with a gasp, pressing her palms to her bright red cheeks. Oh, and it had just been getting good too. Why did Kido have to interrupt her now? Frustrated, she hopped to her feet and headed downstairs to see what Kido wanted, her mind still on her fantasy.


	15. occasionally, It Becomes Harder To Fake

day 15 - a different clothing style

It was Seto's turn to do the dishes, and he was diligently gathering up empty cups to take to the kitchen when the door flew open with a crash. Momo dashed into the room with her usual careless energy, and Mary followed her. The two were carrying several shopping bags each, though Momo definitely had more than her smaller friend did. Seto watched them dump the bags on the couch, baffled.

"I took Mary shopping," Momo informed him cheerfully, leaning down to rummage in one of the bags.

"She said my dress was old fashioned," Mary added, sounding a bit glum, and Seto noticed for the first time that she was wearing something different, some sort of short frilly skirt and a shirt with a strawberry on it. He blinked, feeling like he'd missed a piece of the puzzle.

"It's not like your dress was _ugly," _Momo clarified, and Mary brightened; Seto knew she'd made it by altering one of her mother's old dresses, so it had sentimental value. "It's just that people kept staring at us while we were out, and yknow, I'm really trying to cut down on that."

Seto got the feeling he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon, so he set down the armful of cups on a side table and wandered over. "Is all that stuff Mary's?" he asked, baffled. Where was she going to keep it? More importantly, how did she pay for it? They weren't rich, and he didn't think the Kisaragi family were either, despite Momo's fame.

"Nah, some of it's mine. I get free stuff from some of the stores sometimes because it's like, promoting them." Momo nudged one of the bags with her foot, "Mary can have most of 'em if she wants though. Some of it really isn't my color." She leaned down and pulled out something sparkly and silver. "Hey, speaking of which, you should try this on."

Mary squeaked. "Isn't that a bit much…?" From here, Seto couldn't even tell what it was.

"Nahhh…" Momo shook her head, then her face brightened. "I've got it! You should try on a bunch of stuff and we'll tell you what looks good. Is anyone else home?" she asked Seto, who shook his head, wondering what he was getting pulled into.

…

Ten minutes later he was sure he was sure this was a bad idea. Momo had vanished into the bathroom to help to help Mary change, and he sat awkwardly among the bags. He'd tried to move one out of the way, but something that looked suspiciously like a bra had fallen out and since then he'd been afraid to move. Maybe it was just a swimsuit top, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Momo came out of the bathroom, shutting the door carefully behind her and sitting next to him on the couch. She turned to him. "When she comes out, say she's beautiful," she warned, and he nodded, still feeling out of touch with the whole situation.

The doorknob rattled, and then Mary emerged. She wore a dress in a similar light blue of her usual clothing, but with short puffy sleeves and a skirt like an upside down teacup. Seto had been prepared to compliment some outlandish getup, having seen the things Momo called cute, but he was having trouble getting out the words when confronted with how cute it actually was.

He wasn't aware he was gaping until Momo elbowed him, hard. "Say something," she gritted through the clenched teeth of a forced smile, and he looked from her back to Mary, who was twisting her hands in the fabric of her skirt.

"Is it that bad…?" she asked, her eyes swimming with tears.

Seto managed to clear his throat. "No! It's not that. It's. It's really cute."

"See?" Momo shot her two thumbs up, and Seto wondered if she'd orchestrated the whole thing.

Mary gave both of them a weak smile, seemingly comforted, and he couldn't help but clarify. "You look really cute." Momo beamed in approval, and Mary flushed, covering her cheeks with her hands.


	16. so far, It's Been Wonderful

day 16 - morning routine

Mary woke up slowly, comfortable and calm and surprisingly warm. Sunlight was filtering through the curtains and leaving glowing shapes on the floor, and as she drifted awake she realized it must be quite late. That struck her as strange, because there was an arm wrapped around her shoulders, and a chin digging into the top of her head.

Squirming, because the offending chin was really very uncomfortable, she managed to roll over and identify the sleeping person as Seto. It would make sense. This was his bed.

She yawned, a sleepy haze still over her mind, and wondered how on earth she was going to get up. Usually she didn't have to worry about this; he was almost always long gone by the time she woke up. She tried to wriggle down and under his arm, but that didn't seem to be working out. After several more minutes of escape attempts, she sighed. She was going to have to wake him up.

Mary shook his shoulder. "Hey, Seto. I think it's noon or something."

His face changed, his eyes squeezing tighter shut with determination, and he very clearly said, "Mary, no."

Well, okay, maybe they didn't have a clock in here. But it was definitely late, and she still didn't know why he wasn't at work already. "It's time to get up," she replied, shaking his shoulder again.

This time he rolled over and away from her, raising his arm to shield his eyes. "No," he insisted, "it's not."

Oh, well. He'd let go of her anyway, and she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, stretching to work aches and pains out of her spine. She bounced once, and then stood up, turning to go. A voice from the bed stopped her.

"'s my day off," Seto clarified sleepily.

Mary understood that most humans worked Monday through Friday, with weekends off, but Seto's schedule was always more erratic than that. He usually was gone ridiculously early in the morning, and got back in early evening, in time to spend part of the day with them. Sometimes he was gone all day though, or all night. She thought it was probably because he was always changing jobs, since most of them seemed to be temporary opportunities. Anyway, it was a rare day that he didn't work at all, and it came maybe once a month. She understood now why he didn't want to wake up.

Trying to be quiet, she tiptoed down the stairs and to the kitchen. Kano was doing something with his phone at the table, and she stepped around him to get breakfast.

"Will you look at that? It's sleeping beauty returning to the land of the living," he exclaimed when he noticed her, grinning. She stuck her tongue out at him and shouldered past.

She managed to ignore him mostly during breakfast. It helped that he was pretty engrossed in whatever game he was playing on his phone. Mary wasn't sure what it was, but there sure was a lot of screaming coming from the tiny device. Breakfast done with, she headed back upstairs and into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth (a thing the others told her was Very Important, though she'd never done so before living with them and her teeth looked fine,) and picked up her poor battered hairbrush, frowning at herself in the mirror. It could take her almost an hour some days to work the tangles from her hair, and as she made eye contact with herself the white curls seemed almost to grow bushier.

Nope, not today. She set the brush down and went back to the boys' bedroom, not bothering to knock as she let herself in. Seto was still asleep, an unmoving lump under the covers, and she rocked in place for a second, considering shutting the door and going back downstairs. She didn't want to bother him on his one day of peace, after all. As she stood in the doorway debating with herself, however, he stirred and turned over, squinting at her.

Her hair was a mess, but his was laughable as well, with a persistent lock on one side that seemed to think if it tried hard enough it could be a cowlick. She supposed that's what you got when you stayed in bed all day.

"Comin' back?" he asked, yawning hugely, and she made her decision, shutting the door again and crawling into bed next to him. As always, he was so much warmer than her, and she felt him jump when her cold feet brushed his ankle.

"Are you really gonna spend your day off sleeping?" she asked, skeptical. If it were her, she'd probably do something exciting. Well, if she had anything exciting she liked doing, that is.

"Gonna spend my day off with you," he corrected with another yawn, looping an arm around her again. She guessed that was pretty exciting after all.


	17. momentarily, She Considered It

"—and this is where Kido and I live," Mary concluded, gesturing at the room. Momo peered at it curiously.

"It's so clean!" she exclaimed, surprised. The room was remarkably free of clutter, for being shared by two teenage girls. Clothing hung neatly on hooks or in the closets, and nothing but Mary's flower-making supplies occupied the desk. "Even the bed's made," Momo continued, flopping down onto the pink quilt that covered it. "Mine never is."

Mary shrugged, perching next to her new friend. "Well I don't sleep here most nights, so I don't have to make it that often…" she didn't want to admit that it was mostly Kido's efforts that kept the room clean. Although Mary had always kept her house clean when she lived alone, her room there had been at least a little bit more cluttered than it was here.

"Huh? Where do you sleep?"

Mary was aware of the reaction it'd provoke, but she said it anyway. "In the boys' room."

Momo gasped. "Huh? How come?"

The smaller girl hunched her shoulders, self conscious. "Well, Kido doesn't like it when I climb in with her, and sometimes I get scared, and—"

"You sleep in their beds?" Momo demanded, even more scandalized, and Mary winced.

"Not in _Kano's_ bed," she clarified, as if that made it better. Momo stared at her for several seconds, but then slowly her shoulders relaxed and she took a deep breath.

"Sorry, I didn't expect that of you two," she laughed, patting Mary's head, and Mary sighed in relief at the fact that her friend wasn't rejecting her. "You should have told me you had that kind of relationship."

Mary didn't see what she meant. After all, she and Seto had always been close, and even now he often carried her places or let her sit on his lap. It was natural for the two of them to spend time together. Why wouldn't Momo have expected it?

"How long have you been, uh…" Momo trailed off.

Confused as to why it mattered, Mary answered, "I've been sleeping in his bed since I came here, I think. Four years ago? Five?" Human time was baffling with its precise little increments, and Mary was still having trouble adjusting to it.

Meanwhile, Momo had a hand over her mouth, her face slowly going red. "I understand you age slowly, but wouldn't he have been like, eleven?" she asked, hesitant.

A fond smile grew on Mary's face, and she nodded. "He was really tiny back then. It's weird to think he's grown so much." Momo didn't seem to be sharing in her nostalgic memories, however. She actually looked a little bit freaked out.

"Mary," she asked hesitantly, "don't you think that's a bit, um, young?" Mary stared at her, and then everything clicked into place. It wasn't like she was totally naive; she'd read enough BL manga to realize what Momo was talking about.

"NO!" she shrieked, covering her face, "not _sleeping together_ sleeping together!"

"OH THANK GOD," Momo yelled at the same high volume, flopping onto her back with relief. Mary's face burned with embarrassment as she tried to chase mental images out of her head.

"We just sleep in the same bed! It's totally innocent!" Mary insisted. It was mostly innocent, anyway— she didn't need to tell Momo about sleepy kisses she'd managed to steal when Seto was too tired to exercise good sense.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT FROM THE BEGINNING," Momo replied, her ears red with embarrassment. The two continued to scream at each other goodnaturedly and laughed it off, and soon the incident was mostly forgotten.

But not entirely.

That night, Mary was trying to fall asleep in Seto's arms, her back to his chest and his chin resting on top of her head. His breathing was already starting to slow down, but she couldn't fall asleep.

"Hey, Seto?"

"Mrnm?" His reply was unintelligible, but she felt him shake himself awake, ready to hear what she had to say. The attentiveness made her smile, and she ran a fingertip back and forth across the ridge of his knuckles as she tried to put together what she wanted to say.

"I told Momo I usually sleep with you." And it was 'usually' by now, where it had once only been 'sometimes'.

"Uh-huh?"

"She thought I meant we were sleeping together."

His reaction was immediate; he released her to attempt to cover his face in embarrassment, but she anticipated it and caught his wrists before he could take his arms away. He buried his face in her hair instead, and she felt his body heat increase. She couldn't see in the dim light, but there was probably a blush running all the way down his arms to the backs of his hands.

She let him wallow in embarrassment for a few seconds until he finally replied. "We're_not_."

"I know that," she snapped, and it came out childish and crabby sounding. She inhaled, gathering her courage before asking, "but why not?"

"You know why not," he said, and his voice sounded miserable. But this was news to her.

"No I don't," she replied. Whatever it was, it was something he'd decided on his own.

"Mary…" he sighed, exhausted. "You're like fourteen."

"More like a hundred-something," she replied, testy.

"You're going to be like fourteen for the rest of my life." He sounded like he was reciting memorized lines now, and she felt frustration growing in a tightly wound ball in her stomach.

She wanted to say something clever like 'which means we're running out of time', but by the time she'd thought of it the silence had stretched on too long, and it wouldn't have sounded right. Instead she breathed deep to calm herself, snuggling back down into his arms. After a second, his hands re-folded themselves in front of her again, and she felt him relax.

She was almost asleep by the time she heard him mumble 'I'm sorry'.


	18. unexpectedly, He Understands

day 18 - doing something together (prompt choice: haircut)

"Mary, you've got to do something about your hair," Seto said, exasperated. So far today it had caught on three doorknobs and two drawers, pulled a pot off the stove (which thankfully hadn't been on at the time) and he had also lost his hair clip until he found it, tangled in the mass of curls.

She pouted. "My hair is fine, it's just that stuff keeps getting in my way."

"That might be the case," he said with a sigh, "but it's dangerous. What if it gets caught on something and it pulls?"

Mary frowned. Her scalp was sensitive, and the thought of her hair pulling on something was not a fun one. "What'm I supposed to?" she asked.

"You could get a haircut," he urged. He'd been begging her to cut her hair for years.

She shook her head, stubborn. "Mom never cut her hair."

He failed to see how that meant that she couldn't, but he knew she was sensitive on the subject of her mother, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings. But it was getting out of hand.

"You can ask Kido to do it," he suggested, "she always cuts mine and Kano's hair." He didn't mention that it was mostly due to Kano preferring that if _someone _had to have scissors an inch from his neck, he'd rather it be Kido.

Mary was still shaking her head however, and her hands were squeezed into fists in her lap, and he realized something was wrong. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and he hesitated, and then put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she looked down.

"If I cut it…" she whispered, and he had to bend down to hear, "what if it hurts?"

It took him a moment to realize what she meant, but then all the times that he'd seen her hair wriggle and move on it's own came back to him, and he felt terrible. Mary's hair was obviously different than a humans, far more of a living thing. Of course she was right to worry.

"I'll braid it," he said quickly, offering another explanation. "I'll learn how. I'll braid it every day, okay?"

She looked up at him, startled and still shaky-looking from worry. "Really?"

"Yeah!" he said, determined, "I'll braid it right now, if you want!"

Mary nodded, a tiny smile appearing on her face, and they went off to find a hairtie and to google braiding.


	19. He Wasn't Sure, at first

day 19 - formal wear

Seto tugged at the front of his vest, frowning down at the stiff material. He hadn't really ever worn something like this before; his regular clothes were built for durability, not for looks, and even if he'd been choosing for fashion this wouldn't have been his first choice. But Momo's 'people' had contacted them and handed over outfits they had to wear if they were going to attend her party.

And Momo had wanted them to come so badly.

Seto shrugged his shoulders, trying to get the sleeves to lay comfortably on his arms. They'd known their sizes somehow (he was sure Kido would have confronted them on this if she hadn't been vibrating with rage over the fluffy dress handed to her) but still it felt strange.

There was a knock on the door, and Seto called, "Come in!"

It was strange that someone would knock. Mary would know whether or not she could come in, Kano woudn't bother, and Kido had always just thrown the door open, sometimes with a dry statement such as 'cover yourselves'. But Mary's voice answered him from the other side.

"Is Kano in there…?" she sounded worried, and any second thoughts Seto was having about his shirt disappeared as he turned his attention to her, going to open the door.

"He's not," he replied as he did, opening his mouth to explain more, but Mary was staring up at him with worried eyes, and he was fairly sure she was holding up her dress with both hands in the front.

Kido must have done her hair, or her makeup, or something, because he couldn't put his finger on it but she was sparkling, her curls no longer quite the mess they usually were. Her bare shoulders shifted and hunched together, and she looked away, uncomfortable, and he realized he was staring.

Seto's cheeks burned and he found an interesting spot on the wall above her head to stare at. "What do you need?" he asked, his voice a little rough with embarrassment. Momo's PR people knew she was a child, right? From what he could see, Mary's dress was cut for grownups, and he wanted to shake them for making such a decision. He knew it wasn't up to him, of course, but he still felt protective over her, especially with the thought that they were venturing into public, where she often felt nervous.

"I can't get it closed," she replied, a little whine in her voice. She was still that childish,then.

He felt himself relax, as the easy and familiar dynamic of her asking for help and him watching over presented itself. Maybe that balance wouldn't be upset today after all.

"Turn around," he suggested, and she did so, careful not to trip on the hem. He had to take his eyes off the wall at some point, and he found the zipper easily, a long jagged metal line that seemed almost dark against her back and shoulder blades. He swallowed.

"Do you see it?" she asked, helpless, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I've got it," he replied, bending down and finding the zipper pull. There was no earthy reason for any zipper to be this far down on the dress. No wonder she hadn't been able to reach it easily.

He zipped it up carefully, not wanting to catch her hair, though most of it was up and out of the way anyway. "Done," he said, with a sigh of relief, and she spun before he could straighten back up and seized the front of his collar, refolding it down, and then straightened his tie.

"Kido will get it," he said with a laugh, and she pouted, tugging again on his tie.

"I don't want her to get it." Tug, tug. He was beginning to think there was nothing wrong with his tie at all, a suspicion that was confirmed when she bit her lip and looked down.

It had been long enough that he knew how to read her, knew what she was looking for. He took her face gently in his hands and kissed her slowly, conscious of the fact that he may be messing up hours of hard work on her makeup. She didn't seem to mind.

After a few minutes, he straightened up, stretching out the crick in his back. "We should get going," he said, suddenly more confident in the strange clothes that had been provided for them. She nodded, breathless, and they made their way downstairs.


	20. but later, She Would Remember It

day 20 - dancing

When they arrived, the party was already loud and crowded. They didn't know anyone there, though they kept thinking they saw familiar faces, of actresses or singers or people from advertisements. It was getting dark, however, and it was difficult to tell.

Kano vanished almost as soon as they entered, and when Kido noticed, her eyes went dark. "He's causing trouble."

They didn't have to ask how she knew.

Seto and Mary watched her disappear into the crowd, on the lookout for the smaller boy, and wondered if they should help look too. But, well, Mary was never as good at seeing through Kano's ability as the other two were, and it just didn't seem worth it.

Besides, whatever Kano did, they'd probably hear about it later.

"Ah, you probably want to find Momo, right?" Seto asked, rocking up on his toes to see over the crowd. He knew how close the two girls were, and he knew it would make Momo's day to see that they'd come.

Mary nodded, but try as Seto might he couldn't see her orange curls in the crowd of people. He rocked back down, shaking his head. "I can't find her," he said, "but maybe she'll find us?"

It seemed likely enough. In the meantime there was someone approaching them, a teenage girl with warm brown eyes. Her dress was a pale pink color, and a similar color brightened her cheeks as she asked, "you look familiar… have I seen you in something?"

Seto looked at Mary in confusion. She rarely even ventured out into public, let alone getting caught on camera. She made a face, and he realized with a shock that the girl was talking to him. "A-ah! No, you've got it wrong, we're just friends of Kisaragi's."

A dimple appeared in one cheek, and he wondered if she'd known all along they didn't belong here. An anxious feeling was growing in his stomach, one he remembered from being young. Was she making fun of them? But he stomped it down. He wouldn't let any sort of anxiety get in the way of meeting new people and making friends.

"Ah, my mistake," she said, laughing lightly, but she didn't seem to be looking down on them. Instead, she held out her hand. "In that case, should I show you around? I've been looking for someone to dance with just now."

Seto felt Mary's hand on the edge of his sleeve, but he didn't need it to know he shouldn't leave her behind in a strange place. "Maybe another time," he replied with an apologetic smile, "I actually think we were gonna go dance probably? Right?" He didn't actually wait for Mary to answer as he took her hand and wove his way through the other partygoers.

When they stopped, he felt a bit silly for getting out of there so fast. "Sorry," he said, "I don't know what it was about her…"

But Mary was peering up at him, a tiny frown on her face. "Did you make it up? Or are we going to dance?"

He flushed, realizing suddenly that he didn't know how to dance. Most likely, Mary didn't know either, growing up where she had. He guessed the two of them were pretty uncultured.

"I don't know any steps," he confessed to her. Her face fell, and she looked down at the ground. The sight was a little strange; her childish face as she pouted and didn't meet his eyes, matched with the too-mature dress and hairstyle that someone else had come up with her. He couldn't let her down. "We'll make it up as we go along," he said, taking her hand again.

Beaming, she followed him out to where everyone else was dancing. It took them a second to figure out where hands went— hers on his shoulder felt wrong, with his height, but they managed. And that was fine, for awhile. But then they figured out twirling.

Seto was fairly sure no normal dance contained this much twirling, but it was fun, and when he spun her around she laughed and her hair fanned through the air around her. People were probably staring, but neither of them could bring themselves to care.


	21. They Try To Make It Work, for some time

day 21 - baking

Mary sat on the counter, paging through the cookbook. Cakes and pastries filled the pages that she flipped through, and she surveyed them with a critical eye.

"Find something?" Seto asked, pausing in the middle of taking ingredients out from the fridge. Since they didn't know yet what recipe they were using, he was picking out the things that most cakes ended up needing regardless of type.

Mary pursed her lips, unsure. "I like this one," she said, "but I like this one too. Look at the little icing flowers!"

She held the book out, and Seto obliged, coming over to see what she was talking about. There were two very cute cakes she was choosing between, keeping her finger firmly in between the pages so she didn't loose her place. Seto made a 'hmm' sound and tapped his chin. It was a difficult choice.

"I don't know if Momo likes flowers as much as I do, though," Mary said suddenly, lowering the book as the thought struck her. It was her friend's birthday, so the cake should be what she liked.

That didn't seem to Seto like it'd be much of a problem. "She'll like whatever you make," he told Mary, "because she'll be glad it comes from you."

Mary flushed, dropping her chin so her hair hid her face, and continued to study the book. "I think we should pick this one," she said after a second, pointing at a third cake she hadn't shown him before. Seto leaned over to look.

"Hey, good choice! Momo likes fresh fruit a lot, right?"

Mary beamed, nodding, and hopped down off the counter, laying the book down so they could see what else they needed. They didn't have much fruit at the moment, but they wouldn't need that until after they finished baking. She checked the instructions.

"Okay, first we need white eggs."

That sounded wrong, so Seto double checked. "Egg whites?'

"That's what I said."

Well, he wasn't one to argue; the last time he'd tried cooking he'd nearly burned down the house, with Kano's help of course. Plus, Kido and Mary spent a ton of time hanging out together. Surely Kido had taught Mary her cooking voodoo magic by now.

He found eggs on the counter, and they counted out the number the recipe indicated. Then Mary cracked one into the bowl.

Or tried, anyway.

The entire shell crumpled in her hand like a popped bubble, and the yolk exploded everywhere. Seto winced.

"It's okay, you can wash it off and we'll just use a different bowl." As Mary headed to the sink to wash raw egg and shattered shell pieces off her hand, Seto took up the challenge. He picked out an egg and rapped it neatly against the edge of the counter. It's what he'd seen Kido do.

Apparently there was more to it, because the counter edge chopped the egg in half, one half falling onto the ground and the other shattering all over the top of the counter. Slimy raw egg dripped onto his shirt as Mary giggled.

"Let me try," she said, and though she'd already shown her lack of talent at the difficult task, he passed her an egg before washing his hands and getting a rag to clean the floor. By the time he was finished, Mary had ruined three eggs but, as he watched, she successfully cracked one, and poured it perfectly into the bowl.

"It's like this," she explained, showing how she held the egg in two hands and broke the shell with her thumbnail before splitting it in half. Well, if it worked it worked. She wouldn't let him touch the rest of the eggs, however, stating that his hands were too big, so he left her to it.

In the meantime, the recipe called for sugar, so he found the container and a measuring cup. That was easier, though he dropped the knife at least twice while trying to level the top. He poured it in with the growing collection of raw eggs, and then stood back to admire their work.

"Now we whip it," Mary noted, her pointer finger on the relevant line in the cookbook.

The rest of the baking was an adventure, though nothing stumped them as hard as cracking the eggs had. As Seto added one of the last ingredients, Mary gasped in horror. He nearly dropped the bowl.

"We forgot to preheat the oven," she whispered, staring at the instructions.

"We can do it now, I think," Seto replied, racking his brain. "It doesn't make a difference. I think." Mary was obviously not convinced, but they set to figuring out the oven.

Several minutes later, and the cake was safely in the oven. They'd made a few mistakes and deviated from the recipe a few times, but surely it'd be fine. Right?


	22. And She Fails, again and again

day 22 - in battle, side-by-side

By the time it began to resemble her dreams, it was too late. Mary backed up, unable to turn away as she watched Momo die before them. Seto was the only other one left standing, and a dull feeling in her mind reminded her that this was always how it was.

Not this time. Mary seized his arm, her wide eyes still on the gory scene in front of them.

"L-let's go!" she whimpered, pulling on his sleeve, trying to turn him around to face her. Only when she stopped yanking did she notice the tremors in his arm, and leaned forward to see his face. Seto was staring at the still forms on the ground. She pulled on his arm again, and he finally reacted, turning to look over his shoulder at her with eyes filled with tears.

"Kido and Kano—" he managed, his voice raspy, and Mary fought the urge to cry for the other members of her assumed family. It didn't _matter. _They had to escape. But Seto wouldn't budge.

Then Seto's face changed, an expression of terror crossing his face, and he pushed her away.

With a cry, Mary crumpled to the floor, more surprised than hurt. He'd never pushed her before, never hurt her. Though she was so much smaller than him, or maybe because of it, he'd always treated her like she was moments away from shattering.

When she looked back up at him, though, she saw why. A dark shape like a shadow wrapped around his ankle, and as she watched it climbed higher. Rather than try to escape it, he pivoted on that foot, and faced the yellow-eyed figure that was approaching him now.

"Please escape," he said, and his voice shook, fear showing through it clear as day.

Mary couldn't move. She knew how this ended. She'd seen it. And even if she didn't, there was no way she was escaping to a world without him.

Even as Kuroha's hands closed around Seto's throat, Mary fought to find the ability she knew she had, the one that could fix everything. Seto shuddered and choked in front of her and still she couldn't find it.

It was only when his body went limp that she found it, whether through luck or despair, and she screamed. The world folded shut around her and for a moment she wondered if it had just been a dream after all.


	23. before, He Tried To Keep Quiet

day 23 - arguing

As Seto trudged up the stairs to the apartment, he heaved a sigh of relief. The day at work had been particularly trying for some reason, and though he hadn't let his characteristic smile drop, he was exhausted. His muscles ached, but he was glad to be on his way home, to spend some time with the people he loved most. He opened the door and called, "I'm home!"

No one replied. That was odd. If Mary was home, generally she came to greet him when she heard the door, and often the other two would at least shout hello. But there were murmurs of voices from within, so it wasn't like no one was there at all. Seto turned the corner to see who was talking.

Mary sat on the couch, and with her was, surprisingly, Shintaro. Seto hadn't expected him, but it wasn't like he minded him being here. All members of the gang were welcome to drop by whenever they liked, and the introverted boy was no exception. Neither of them looked up as he entered the room. Shintaro seemed to be showing Mary some comic he'd bought, and she was making excited noises as he turned the pages.

"I'm home," Seto repeated again, a bit confused about the scene before him.

"Oh, hey," Shintaro replied, not looking up. Seto hadn't really been looking for a reaction from him anyway.

Mary glanced over at him. "Welcome home!" she chirped, and then went back to the comic. Seto frowned.

He had to admit that while the amount of attention he usually got from Mary was very nice, he held no real claim over her and she could do what she wanted. Still, after such a stressful day, his shoulders sagged a little when she didn't come over to hug him like usual.

"Hey, where's Kido?" he asked. Often, she was preparing dinner at this time, but he couldn't smell or hear anything from that direction.

"She went out," Mary replied absently, "we're on our own for dinner tonight."

"And Kano?" The other boy's absence was far less strange; like an outdoor cat he came and went as he chose, and as long as he checked in every day or so they didn't worry about him.

Shintaro glanced up at him then, and he answered, "he's out too. They might be meeting each other, if you know what I mean."

Yes, Seto did very much know what he meant. As someone who grew up with the two of them, their tendency to clash but still seek each other out was no surprise to him. He knew it was stupid and silly and he was just tired, but he felt a little twist of resentment, for Shintaro to sit here on the couch with Mary and act like he knew Kido and Kano better than Seto did.

At that moment, his stomach growled, and he was reminded of how hungry he was. He decided to leave the two of them to whatever they were doing and go get some dinner. Luckily, there were leftovers in the fridge, and it was easy enough to heat some up. Afterwards, as he cleaned up, he decided he was being ridiculous. Shintaro was obviously here because he wanted to reach out to them, and Seto was obviously just lashing out because he'd had a bad day. With that in mind, Seto buried his frustration and pulled on a smile, going back out to the main room to interact with the newbie.

Seeing the book was obviously a difficult task, because when Seto saw the two of them again, they were far closer, Mary practically in Shintaro's lap. She held the book with both hands, smiling, and Shintaro reached over to turn the page. Then he looked up and saw Seto.

With a sideways, crooked smile that seemed unlike Shintaro, he tucked strands of Mary's hair behind her ear, then bent to murmur something to her. Seto couldn't hear what they were saying, but Mary looked up at him and then broke into peals of laughter. Jealousy bloomed in Seto's chest, though he fought it. He never felt angry when Momo and Mary were this close, so why should this be different? He struggled to keep his smile as sincere as before.

"Mary, I had a rough day and I'm really tired, so I'm going to go to bed. Are you coming?" He knew it was mean and underhanded to ask her like that in front of Shintaro, and that it painted the wrong picture. Shintaro didn't seem surprised, however. In fact, it was Mary who looked up with a surprised expression.

"Ah! Is it late?" She looked out the window to confirm that it was actually dark. "I didn't notice! Here's your book back."

She tried to pass it to Shintaro, but instead of taking it, he clasped his hands around hers on the cover. "You should hold on to it," he said, "it's not often someone like me gets to see a cute girl smile because of a comic like this."

Seto had never heard Shintaro use flowery language like that before, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, waiting for Shintaro to let go. Mary giggled, and the older boy finally released her hands and waved to the two of them. "I'll let myself out," he said, his voice dry, and then turned to leave.

Shintaro left, but Seto's irritation didn't. He didn't want to say anything harsh, because he loved Mary, and all this aside, Shintaro was his friend. But nothing made sense today. Though he'd said he was going to bed, he sat down on the couch with a sigh. Mary was turning the book over in her hands.

"He's nicer than I thought," Mary said, her cheeks a touch pink.

"Hm? Ah, Shintaro is?" Seto didn't really have any desire to talk about the subject. He just wanted to go to sleep. But he made sure he was still smiling even as he was unable to stifle a giant yawn.

She nodded. "I didn't know we had so much in common. He's really shy too, you know."

"Didn' look like it," Seto yawned again. Mary tilted her head, then turned to stare at him.

"Are you jealous?" she asked, her voice a mixture of surprise and…what was that other emotion? Flattery, maybe, or vindictiveness.  
The combination didn't make sense to him, and he looked over at her in confusion. Her hands were clenched on the cover of the book.

"You never thought anyone else might be interested in me?" she asked quietly, "why? Because I'm flat-chested and a child? Because I'm slithery and gross and monstrous?"

Seto hadn't been thinking any of those things, but what shocked him most was that she thought those things about herself. "That's not what I meant. It's just, I dunno. You guys were pretty close. You're usually not like that with other people."

He'd thought it'd been clear for a long time that the two of them were essentially together, though they never put words to it or called each other things like 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'. In fact, he'd turned down several people— boys and girls— over the course of the years with the excuse that he already had someone. It was tearing his heart out to know that after all this time, she didn't feel the same way.

It was for that reason that maybe he didn't have the wisest choice of words in reply.

"He's odd, anyway Mary, have you heard Ene talk about him? He's a not-so-secret pervert."

Even though he didn't say it, she knew what he meant. Mary looked Seto dead in the eye. "At least he'd treat me like an grownup."

"You're not a grownup," Seto argued, knowing it was useless, but she bolted to her feet, glaring.

"I've been taking care of myself since before you were born," she hissed, furious, and then stormed out of the room. Seto watched her go, then flopped onto his back on the couch cushions, and let a long exhale of frustration. He should go look for her, he knew, but he didn't.

A few minutes later, Kano walked in. He carried a plastic convenience store bag in one hand, and Kido was nowhere to be seen (not that that meant anything.)

"Had a bad day?" he asked his friend cheerily, and Seto pulled a pillow over his face with a groan.

"You don't know the half of it."


	24. afterward, It Seemed Silly To Try

day 24 - making up afterwards

When Seto went to bed that night, he left the door open a little just in case Mary needed an invitation. Kano complained about the band of light that fell across his bed, but Seto ignored him. He tried to fall asleep, but it took him longer that usual, especially considering the tiring day of work he'd just had.

Finally, tired and upset, he fell asleep. The next morning was no better; Mary was still nowhere to be seen, and Seto felt a cloud lurking over him as he got ready for work. Kido got up at some point while he was eating, and he greeted her wearily.

"Morning to you too," she said, squinting, "what's gotten into you?"

Seto shrugged, frowning into his breakfast. He didn't feel like explaining.

Work was a disaster. He'd signed on to some construction plot a week ago, replacing a paper route that had been significantly downsized as the paper focused going digital. Since then, he'd made a good name for himself by showing up bright and early every morning with a smile. But today that seemed to be too difficult a task. After his second time almost dropping heavy equipment because he wasn't paying attention, resulting in a long gash that ran from the heel of his palm halfway to his elbow, his supervisor sent him home.

"You're obviously sick," he grumbled, and Seto nodded numbly as he clasped a paper towel to the cut. "Don't come back 'til you're ready to pay attention."

For the second time that week, Seto headed home with a heavy step.

There didn't seem to be anyone home when he entered, and he went straight to the first aid kit, but it was missing bandages and gauze. He went to the sink instead, to run water over the cut and mope. He and Mary had never fought like this. Sure, she grew impatient with him at times, or she'd pout for awhile if he chose common sense over her. But it was always smoothed over quickly with a smile or a hug. It was like handing a child a favorite toy to comfort them.

Maybe that was the problem. Lately he'd noticed her pushing the limits of what she was capable of, such as standing up to Kano or going out in public or even just making as many little paper flowers as was possible in one day. Meanwhile, he was still treating her like the little girl who had hidden and cried because she didn't want to hurt him with her powers.

He had no idea how old she was exactly; neither did she. She'd mentioned counting at least one hundred summers since her mother died, but beyond that they had no clue. Even her rate of aging was a mystery to them. There had never been anyone like Mary before, so there was no one to compare her to.

Still puzzling over the situation, Seto suddenly remembered that Kido had a second first aid kit, one she kept in the girls' room. He turned off the water and went to go look for it. Technically, the girls' room was off limits to the guys, but Seto knew the rule really existed because of Kano, and Kido would surely understand if she found him in here as long as he explained.

He opened the door, and then froze. Kido's bed was empty and neatly made, as expected, but Mary's bed was topped with a tangled mess of blankets, and her long hair was poking out of the top of the nest. Seto was just beginning to hope she hadn't heard him come in, when she whimpered "Kidooooo," and turned to look at the door.

Her eyes narrowed the instant she saw him. Seto hovered in the doorway for a few seconds, before making his way to her side and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Hey," he said softly, and she made a little 'hmph!' sound.

"I'm not sorry," she told him, poking out her lower lip.

He hadn't slept much at all last night, and he'd had two bad days in a row. His head and eyes ached with exhaustion. Still, he smiled at her, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. "I am," he confessed, and she looked surprised.

"I wasn't thinking straight, so I was rude to you," he continued, trying to hold eye contact with her even though his eyes burned and he wanted to look somewhere, anywhere else. "I put my own ideas onto what kind of relationship I had with you, and I made all kinds of assumptions. And I'm really, really sorry. Mary, I hope you'll forgive me. It's okay if you and Shintaro become closer, or if you need someone else in your life, but I don't ever want to lose you as a friend. You're one of the most important people in the world to me."

Her eyes welled with tears, and she was the one to look away. "What kind of relationship did you think we had?" she asked, a little hoarse.

It seemed cruel to him to make him say it, to make him spell out the mistakes he'd made. "I thought. Because you stayed with me at night, I thought we were really close. And 'cause we kissed sometimes I thought we were in some kind of relationship, although I guess I never said it." It was becoming harder and harder to make sense, and he looked down at the gash on his arm, which was welling up but not enough to make it more important than this. "When I was a kid, I guess I fell in love with you. And I was kinda stupid about it and never really told you, exactly." That was really off topic, and he felt dumb just saying it.

"You should've," she told him grumpily, and his shoulders sagged. "I should've said something too," she added quietly, and he glanced over at her.

"I thought about it some," Seto said, when it became clear she wasn't going to continue, "and I think you're right. I've gotta stop treating you like a little kid." She stirred next to him, but he kept speaking. "Which means we've got to talk about stuff, okay?"

Mary nodded, and moved closer, like she was going to hug him. It was then that she saw the cut on his arm, and jolted out of bed. "Seto! What happened?!"

She brought his attention back to the injury and it began to sting again, but he was so relieved about her accepting his apology that he just laughed. "I was dumb today," he told her with a chuckle, but she didn't think it was funny, and hurried to get the first aid kit.

Minutes later, as she patched him up, she paused, her hands smoothing down the edges of the medical tape. "I guess it was pretty bad that I let Shintaro act like that," she said.

Seto was already shaking his head. "It wasn't your fault. I was in a terrible mood, or I would have never said anything. I love you, and I want you to do what makes you happy." Now that he'd said it, he couldn't seem to stop, and he could see the tips of her ears go red.

"It doesn't," she mumbled, "it didn't. I just wanted to feel like an adult." Seto felt his heart twist at her words, and he pressed a kiss to the crown of her bowed head. She looked up, her eyes wet.

"It's okay," he promised, "it's alright."

"You too," she mumbled, and he must have looked confused, because she clarified. "I love you too." Her face was flushed and she looked embarrassed, and it was ridiculous because it wasn't like it was a secret.

But he knew how hard the words were to get out, and he moved forward and kissed her, cradling her face with his uninjured hand. She made a happy thrumming noise and clambered into his lap, winding her arms around his neck, and he chuckled. Normally, he'd make an excuse at this point or mention how he wasn't technically supposed to be in the girls' bedroom at all, but she hummed again with enthusiasm and shifted in his lap, and he reminded himself he was going to stop being so overprotective.

Instead, he pulled her closer, setting with his back against the wall. She looked up at him quizzically, and he kissed the tip of her nose, then her jaw just under her ear. She squirmed and giggled, and he grinned at her fondly. After all, they did have all day.

…

Later, he went downstairs to get water, and found Kano on the couch, holding something red and fabric. The smaller boy stuffed it under a pillow as he came in.

"Soooooo," he said watching Seto over the back of the couch as he got himself a glass, "how'd it go?"

"How'd what go?" Seto replied as he turned on the tap. Kano rolled his eyes.

"You guys totally did it just now, right? Right?"

Seto spluttered, choking on the water. "No, we did not! We had a nice talk. Everything's worked out."

Kano pouted. "Boooooo, I thought you were gonna blow a _gasket _when he called her cute, and you just talked? Really? I don't know why I try."

Seto opened his mouth to ask how Kano knew. He hadn't told anyone about what specifically had happened. Then, his mind pieced it together. Shintaro's strange grin. Kano's timely arrival. The red jacket Kano had been holding. He slowly put the glass down on the counter.

"Kano," he said sweetly, coming to lean over the back of the couch. "Where were you last night?"

The blond boy cackled nervously. "I was just trying to help. You guys are like preschoolers."

Sincerely doubting Kano's benevolent motives, Seto proceeded to chase him around the house for the fifteen minutes.


	25. suddenly, A Smile Became Enough

day 25 - gazing into eyes

Seto wasn't sure when they'd started playing the game. Maybe when he'd been in a rush, too harried to kiss Mary goodbye properly before he left for work, and she'd looked up at him with those red eyes, and suddenly three seconds later he was kissing her and also late for work.

He was pretty miffed at her for that, but later acknowledged that he hadn't really minded, as long as she didn't make him late again. Seto trusted her completely, and he didn't mind if she used her power on him for a silly thing like a prank.

From there, it had snowballed into a ridiculous game they couldn't stop playing. When they were alone and no one could make fun of them, sometimes she'd freeze him when she wanted a kiss but was too shy to ask. He'd come to seconds later to her kissing him, or even just the smell of her hair hanging in the air, and know what had just happened.

Sometimes it got a little bit out of hand.

They'd been watching a movie, but it wasn't very good. Honestly, they just felt like they had to make use of the tv since the rest of the gang was out for the day, and they rarely got the chance. Suddenly, the movie skipped, like something was wrong with the disk, and Seto glanced at Mary to see if she'd noticed. She was still staring at the movie, but there was a light flush across her face.

It only took a few seconds to realize what had happened. "You don't have to be so sneaky," he told her with a laugh, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. She looked up at him, her cheeks puffed up and her eyes narrowed, and then the movie skipped again. When he was aware again, he'd been pushed back against the arm of the couch and she was perched between his legs, her lips against his.

This was much more interesting than the movie, so he pulled her closer, kissing her back in earnest. Her eyelashes fluttered against his cheek, and with her eyes shut like this, he thought it was surely the end of that game. But something was wrong with the audio of the movie, which they'd forgotten to turn off, and he realized with a start that the front of his shirt had somehow gotten undone, and the tshirt he wore under it was pushed up a little, and when he understood the situation he chuckled in disbelief.

"Mary! Stop that, come on."

She pouted down at him, moving like she was going to do up his shirt again. He caught her hands and smiled up at her.

"'s embarrassing," she mumbled, looking away. Her cheeks were red. "I wanna do this but it's embarrassing."

He watched her for a second, trying to think of a solution. "I understand," he said, but added, "if you paralyze me like that, then _I _can't enjoy it."

She flushed a darker red. "Oh."

He was still holding her hands and he pressed her palms to his chest, grinning up at her so she'd know it's okay. "I don't mind," he promised again, and she chewed her lower lip, looking torn, so he leaned up and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, and then on the lips. She laughed, unable to stay anxious and embarrassed for long.

Before he knew it she was pushing up his tshirt again, and she shooed his hands away when he tried to help her. It was a good thing that the rest of the gang wouldn't come back till evening, he thought.


	26. all of a sudden, She Has To Know

day 26 - getting married

"Hey," Mary said, looking down at her hands as she wove flowers together into one long chain. "What if we got married?"

Seto glanced over at her from where he was unpacking the basket. "I think it'd probably be illegal."

Kano had mentioned a picnic, which had somehow turned into Kido being forced into making all the food, which had somehow turned into Seto having to carry the entire basket and Mary as well. Kano, of course, had not lifted a finger. Now they were unpacking in a clearing of the forest, a spot Seto knew like the back of his hand from frequent trips through here when he was a child. It was maybe one fourth of the way to Mary's house, so not that far of a walk at all.

Mary pouted and put down the chain. "What's that supposed to mean?" She'd thought he wasn't going to pull the age card anymore—

"I don't know about you," Seto said calmly, holding out the little lunchbox Kido had packed for her, "but I don't even have a birth certificate."

Mary had to admit that she didn't either, and though neither of them new much about legal matters, that seemed like it may be an issue.

Kano must have been listening, because he leaned over Seto's shoulder and added with a sly smile, "I think it also might be illegal for a hundred year old woman to prey on some innocent sixteen year old boy."

Mary stared coughing and Seto looked like he was going to protest, but Kido settled the matter by whacking Kano over the head. "I think if you want to do it, you should," she told them seriously, and then took her own lunchbox and sat down.

The four of them had all gotten their food and begun to eat when Mary realized his only real objection had been the legality of it. "So we should?" she asked, excited. Kano cackled, and Seto smiled down into his lunch.

"I don't have a problem with it, but it wouldn't be much different, right?" It was true; they slept in the same bed every night now, and they had lived in the same house already. It wasn't like it would change how they lived.

Mary was pouting though, and after all this time he couldn't say no to her. "Alright, alright. When do you do you want to?" He was expecting some far off answer, enough in the future that she'd probably forget it.

She curled her little hands into fists. "Now!" Then she looked at the other two, who had paused in eating to stare at them in disbelief. "Um, we can finish lunch though," she added graciously.


	27. rarely, Do They Acknowledge It

day 27 - on one of their birthdays

Mary was woken up by a kiss on her forehead, which had never happened before, so she was taken by surprise. Her eyes blinked open almost immediately, and she glanced up to see Seto leaning over her. He grinned.

"G'morning!" he said, his voice cheerful. She squinted up at him. "What do you want for breakfast?"

She sat up, still confused. "Shouldn't you be at work by now?"

Seto laughed in a way that was almost guilty, scratching the back of his head. "They somehow gave me today off, so nope! Come on, we should get up." Without really waiting for an answer, he looped an arm around her back and the other under her knees and lifted her easily. Taken by surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck for balance.

"Sorry, too quick?" he asked as he carried her towards the kitchen. She shook her head, wondering what had gotten into him. He was always cheerful, but this was above and beyond the norm.

When she was set down lightly on a chair at the table, she was baffled to find that there was already breakfast on the table, and Kido was hard at work at the stove making more if anyone wanted seconds. Seto claimed the chair next to hers.

"It looks like there are strawberries today too," he said, poking at the cut fruit on his plate. "Do you want mine? I know they're your favorite."

The offer wiped any suspicion from her mind. "Yes please!" Seto speared the strawberry with his fork and held it out to her, and she leaned over to eat it.

Somehow she expected Kano to make a sly comment, but he didn't seem to notice, smiling down at his own food and not paying any attention at all to the two of them.

They finished breakfast, Kido sitting down to eat with them too, and then they divided up to do their own things. Seto beamed down at Mary, apparently having decided this was the best way to spend a day off. "What should we do today?" he asked, and she had to admit there was an anime she'd taped that she'd been meaning to catch up on.

He picked her up again, though she protested she could walk, thank you very much, and cuddled against his chest all the same. He plunked her down on the couch and set up the tv for her show, then joined her, bouncing a bit on the cushions. Mary had no idea what was going on, but she decided she liked it.

As the morning went on and the episodes played, she found herself getting tired. Yawning, she curled up against his shoulder and he put an arm around her as her eyelids drifted shut. In minutes, she was asleep.

Sometime later, Kano wandered by. He leaned over the back of the couch to grin down at them. Seto opened one eye.

"She's asleep?" Kano laughed, "guess you must have really tired her out."

Seto chuckled, not offended by what he knew the other boy was implying. He tucked away a lock of hair that had fallen across her face. "She didn't even notice. I'm glad."

Kano snorted. "At some point someone's gonna mention you're eighteen. She'll figure it out."

He knew he was right, but he didn't want to deal with it until then. "It was a big favor for you and Kido to agree to go along with this."

The blond boy pushed off the back of the couch and wandered away down the hall, replying, "it was instead of a birthday present, remember? I'm just practical."

"Thanks anyway," Seto said to his retreating back, and Kano waved his hand, not looking back.

Seto watched until he turned the corner, and then snuggled down into the cushions, pulled Mary to lie comfortably in his lap, and shut his eyes to stave off the future for just a little bit longer.


	28. as soon as it happened, He Rushed To Her

day 28 - getting injured

It was a hot day, and they'd already been outside for several hours. Seto could see that Mary's legs were wobbling as they made their way up the hill on the way home, but when he offered to carry her, she refused.

"I can do it myself," she huffed, gathering her skirts around her. He shrugged and continued walking.

Mary had been trying to get stronger lately, and he did think it was admirable, but sometimes he wished she'd just accept his help in some things. He looked back over his shoulder at her struggling up the hill, her face red with exertion. He slowed to a stop to wait for her.

"At least let me tie your hair up—" he said helplessly, knowing the heat was what was making her so grumpy in the first place.

She opened her mouth to reply and swayed dangerously on the edge of the curb. He reached over to catch her arm, and in the end that was what caused her to topple over and fall off the sidewalk.

"Mary!"

With a crash, she hit the ground. Seto cringed and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes welled up with tears but she dashed them away angrily, bolting to her feet. She almost fell again.

"…I think I sprained my ankle," she grumbled, shifting to stand on one foot she didn't put any weight on the other. Seto didn't know anything about medical things so he had no way of knowing whether she was right or not. He looked up at her.

"Please at least let me carry you home," he urged, and after a second, she nodded and climbed onto his back. He lifted her easily. Seto held her on carefully, trying not to move her injured ankle too much, and she wrapped her arms around neck for stability. He didn't ask her any more questions; he had the feeling that if he tried to make her speak she would cry. It was hot, and she had too much hair, and his body heat was probably only making it worse for her. With that thought in mind, he sped up the pace as he walked home.

When they reached the base, he shouldered open the door and went straight to the kitchen, setting her down gently on the counter top. She looked less on the verge of tears, but there was still the set to her round jaw and the wrinkle between her eyebrows that meant she was Not Pleased. Her ankle was starting to swell.

"Let me get you some ice," he said hurriedly, going to the freezer. Mary thumped her uninjured heel against the cupboards, holding her hurt leg out an awkward angle. When he came back with a dish towel and pressed the ice to it carefully, she hissed between her teeth.

"It _hurts," _she grumbled, tucking her chin to her chest. He frowned in sympathy.

"The ice will help," he told her, pulling it away to re-wrap the dish towel properly.

Mary gave a little sigh. "I scraped my knees too." Seto had missed that in his worry over her ankle, but when he checked she had a scrape on both knees. One of them was pretty deep, and a trickle of blood was starting to make its way down her shin. He handed her the icepack and she pressed it to her own ankle as he hurried to get bandages too.

He returned with a paper towel, which he used to wipe up the blood, and some sort of disinfectant. "This'll sting," he warned, as he carefully applied it. She nodded, but flinched anyway when it touched the scrapes. He quickly covered them with gauze, then stood back.

Mary looked like a mess. The gauze on her knees was sloppily applied, and she had both legs pulled up onto the counter so she could hold the ice to her ankle. She was gross and sweaty and she looked miserable.

"It still hurts," she complained, and stuck her leg out for him to see. Seto remembered when he was a kid and would come home with bruises and cuts all the time. He remembered how Ayaka or Ayano would kiss the bruise and tell him they'd made it better.

He leaned down and kissed her knee a few inches above the scrape. When he straightened up, her face was bright red.

"Feels better?" he asked, his voice mild.

She shook her head, flushing. "No!" she protested, and went back to holding the ice against her ankle, but she seemed happier anyway.


	29. every time, It's The Same

day 29 - something sweet

"I heard about this thing from Momo," Mary said carelessly, flipping through her book. There was something in the forced casual tone of her voice that made Seto look up and pay attention. Mary was sprawled sideways across his lap, reading.

"Momo sure knows about a lot of stuff," he teased, raising his eyebrows at her. She didn't look up, and her eyes were focused firmly on the book in front of her, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. It had become increasingly clear that any time Mary wanted to bring something up and didn't know how it would be received, she'd tell everyone that Momo told her about it. He wondered what it was this time.

"It's this thing," she said, buying herself some time, "where two people kiss."

Ah. "We already kiss," Seto reminded her gently, ruffling her bangs.

"I'm not done!" she huffed, glancing up at him, and she was definitely blushing now. She lifted her book to cover the lower half of her face for a few seconds to hide it, and he waited. "Two people kiss," she continued finally, "and sit apart and stuff, and the first person to touch the other loses."

"If you're kissing, aren't you already touching?" he asked with fake innocence, and she puffed up her cheeks at him to show him his contribution was not appreciated. "Sorry, sorry," he laughed, "did you bring it up because you wanted to try it?"

She flushed harder and looked away. "Maybe," she squeaked, and he chuckled again, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"It sounds fun," he said, and she relaxed a little. "But you're probably going to have to get off my lap if you don't wanna lose right away."

She scrambled off his lap and perched on the couch cushions a little ways away, her hands on her knees. "Also, whoever wins gets to boss the other person around for a whole day."

Seto wondered if she'd made that up on the spot. He didn't really want to boss Mary around, but it could be strange if she won. He'd probably end up carrying her around even more then normal, and even if he didn't mind, he did have other things to do. Therefore, he had to win. He didn't think it'd be particularly hard.

"Ready?" he asked her, and she nodded.

It was surprisingly hard to kiss her without touching her cheek or shoulder. He folded his hands in his lap with determination, and leaned over to brush his lips against hers. He heard the couch cushion shift under her as she moved closer, and smiled to himself.

He was unprepared for her to tilt her head to the side and slide her tongue across his lips. His head jerked back, his eyes snapped open, and he got a glimpse of her with her eyes shut, looking angelic and not at all like she knew what she was doing. Then she closed the distance between them again.

Seto's fingers dug into the fabric by his knees and he kissed her back open-mouthed, taking advantage of his height to lean over her. Her head tilted back and she whined deep in the back of her throat. He could feel her trembling, and he knew he was winning, which was good because he was about half a second from pulling her back into his lap.

Desperate, he leaned closer, and she promptly fell sideways off the couch with a thud.

"Mary! Are you okay?"

Mary was sprawled on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, rubbing her head where she'd hit it on the edge. He knelt down in front of her and reached over to help her up. She took his hand and then grinned up at him.

With a shock, he realized what she'd done. "…Did you do that on purpose?"

"Nuh-uh! No way!" But her cheeks were red and the way she'd grinned had him doubting it. He shook his head, but smiled ruefully.

"Anyway," she continued, "I won, so first I want you to pick me up and carry me to the kitchen to get a snack, and then I want you to carry me upstairs."

He laughed, knowing it probably would have ended up this way either way.


	30. in the end, They'd Be Happy

day 30 - something hot

Kido's day had been very long and very difficult, and she'd grazed her knuckles on the wall when she'd tried to hit Kano before and missed, and so she was very irked when she was awoken in the middle of the night by a quiet whimpering noise. Her eyes snapped open and she glared into the darkness. Whoever that was, she was going to kill them.

Her anger melted away a second later when the noise happened again, and Kido was able to identify it as Mary. She squinted across the room, and sure enough there was a tiny shape in the opposite bed, trembling and shaking under the covers. Was she crying?

Kido crossed the room and sat gently on the edge of the mattress, hovering over the tiny girl, who sniffled.

"Mary, are you okay?" she whispered, unsure if she should wake her. Weren't you not supposed to wake people up from nightmares? Or was that just sleep walkers?

Mary shifted away from her in her sleep, and her shoulders were shivering. Kido felt a frown cross her face as the little girl's breathing shook her entire body. Her frown deepened as Mary whispered Seto's name.

Oh, what had he done now. Kido shook Mary's shoulder with determination. Whatever Seto had done to upset her, she had no qualms about waking them both up in the middle of the night so he could apologize and so Kido could go back to bed.

Mary's eyes flew open and she sat up with a gasp. She looked around wildly. "K-kido?" she stammered, pulling her knees to her chest.

She looked so frightened, but Kido was too tired to be anything but blunt. "What'd he do?" she asked, and Mary turned bright red, her eyes going wide.

"Um, w-what do you mean?" she asked, pulling the covers around herself. Kido sighed.

"You were having a bad dream about Seto, and if you guys are fighting you're going to make up right now if I have to drag him out of bed to do it."

Mary's blush deepened, if that was even possible, and she looked away. Kido waited, scowling. Finally, Mary cleared her throat. "It wasn't a _bad_ dream," she said in the tiniest voice imaginable.

It took Kido about three seconds before she sprang off the bed, her own face going scarlet. "Mary!" she gasped, forgetting to keep her voice down, and the white-haired girl squeaked and pulled the blankets over her head, hiding her own burning face.

No matter what Kido did, she couldn't get her to come out again, and eventually she had to resign herself to trying to sleep and doing her best to forget what she'd heard.

…

Around five AM she decided that it wasn't even remotely fair for her to be the only one tortured by this and kept up at night. She waited until seven, when she heard stirrings in the kitchen. Exhausted and peeved, she levered herself out of bed and headed towards the noise, not bothering to change out of her pajamas.

In the kitchen, Seto was cobbling together some disgusting teenage-boy breakfast of packaged snack food and reheated soup. He shot her a grin as she came in, and she almost felt bad. Almost.

"Good morning!" he said, cheerful but quiet, not wanting to wake the other residents. She grunted. It wasn't a good morning at all. Seto laughed at the look on her face. "You don't look so happy," he chuckled.

It was him laughing at her that was the final straw. "Seto, look at me," she commanded, and to his credit he immediately turned to face her, instinctively following her instructions. She grabbed his face between her palms. "No, _look _at me," she said, stern, and his eyes drifted sideways and away from her.

"But Kido," he protested, like a small child, and she felt a surge of irritation. She could be asleep right now if it weren't for the two of them.

"Look at me," she repeated one last time and his eyes found hers again, blinking slowly. When he opened them, they were a familiar shade of red and she shoved the memories at him, pushing the thoughts of Mary's quiet whimpers and the sweat on her neck and her fingers tangling in the blankets. He made a strangled noise and tried to step back, but her fingers dug into his jaw and held him still. She re-played the shiver in her voice as she'd whispered his name in her sleep and he swallowed hard, finally remembering how to close his eyes.

He stood there for a second, his eyes squeezed shut and his face red, and Kido released him, her cheeks a little pink herself for going over the memories. She would feel bad, but she was still grumpy and groggy from being woken up.

Finally he rubbed his palm against his forehead and sighed. "Kido, that's not fair."

"You need to do something about it!" she said with rising frustration in her voice. Just because he was too much of a coward to actually do anything with the smaller girl didn't mean her sleep should be interrupted.

"I have!" Seto snapped back tiredly, and she stared at him. He cleared his throat. "I mean. We have. She never woke you up before, right?"

This information was new to Kido, and she floundered a little, used to knowing most of the goings-on in her little family. "What? When? How many times?"

Her interrogation seemed to embarrass him, because he wouldn't look at her again, though maybe that was due to what trouble looking at her had gotten him into. "I dunno. That depends on what you count—"

"Okay, stop." Despite her curiosity, Kido realized she did not want to hear it. "Look, just. You need your own room. Kano can sleep on the couch, I don't care, just. We're getting older, and you guys need your own space."

He brightened considerably; at least something good was coming of this whole affair.

"Really?" he asked, clasping his hands like a child, and she tried not to look at him, tried not to feel sad and nostalgic for the shared childhood they were all leaving behind.

"Yeah, really. I'll tell him tonight. Now get going. You're gonna be late."

Seto glanced at the clock and gasped, grabbing his packed lunch she'd left out for him and dashing for the door. Kido rubbed her eyes, exhausted.


End file.
